Calming the Storms Within

Jesus can go anywhere to calm any storm. He even calms the storms inside you. He did it for a man who was being attacked by thousands of demons, and He will do it for you. He can set you free of the demons of doubt, fear, oppression, rage, guilt, lust, gossip, depression, or whatever else wants to control your life.

There is an amazing story of a man whose life was transformed by Jesus Christ. Jesus calmed the storms inside his life. Read Mark 5 looking for the answers to these questions:

What was the man’s condition before he encountered Jesus?

How did Jesus change his life?

What did the man do after Jesus calmed the storm within him?

Mark 5:1-20 (HCSB) 1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. 3 He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him anymore—even with chains— 4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For He had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

9 “What is your name?” He asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered Him, “because we are many.” 10 And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region.

11 Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” 13 And He gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and ⌊told⌋ about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg Him to leave their region.

18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. 19 But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

Jesus has all authority, even over thousands of demons at once. They have no power compared to Him.

Before the demoniac met Christ, he was tormented, destructive, filled with rage, living in the tombs. When he met Christ, he was set free, calm, sitting in his right mind. After he met Christ, he told everyone what Jesus had done for him.

The people in the region were afraid, in awe, in disbelief. Their economic security (pigs) was destroyed. They begged Jesus to leave. They did not believe in Jesus. The man did. He was changed forever. And Jesus commanded him to stay in his hometown and tell everyone what had happened in his life.

He had a story to tell: Jesus can calm the storms within. Jesus can change your life!

This event demonstrates Jesus’ power to calm even the most difficult storm going on in your life. Turn to Him. Trust in Him. Believe. Be set free. Then tell others the amazing work that Jesus can do for anyone who will believe in Him.